Narrative Inquiry

Narrative Inquiry Example Experiment “Handout” Review Proposal

Cameron, 1997

Cameron, 1997

Images from Cameron, 1997

Prof. Jean Clandinin, University of Alberta BERA, 2012

(Jean Clandinin, Interview 2012) We do research on instead of research with (Jean Clandinin, Interview 2012)

Where do stories come from?

Where do stories come from? Memoirs Biographies Autobiographies Diaries Archival Documents Art – folk ballads, photographs, plays Interviews

Front of Class G A B C D E F

Interviews Elliot George Mishler Research interviewing : context and narrative Previous Model: Facilitating interviewer/Respondent Mishler’s Model: Two active participants Interview as a conversation When shifts (digressions) occur, follow them Pass control from interviewer to interviewee Greater equality/greater uncertainty Interview over time, not one shot Researcher should do the interview (Reissman, 2008, p 23)

Narrative Inquiry A fundamental criterion of narrative is surely contingency. Whatever the content, stories demand the consequential linking of events or ideas. Narrative....entails imposing a meaningful pattern on what would be otherwise random and disconnected (Reissman, 2008, p 5)

Narrative Analysis Thematic Analysis Structural Analysis Dialogic/Performance Analysis

Narrative Analysis Thematic Analysis Focus is on the act the narrative reports and the moral of the story What information is relevant to the study Content (Reissman, 2008)

Narrative Analysis Structural Analysis How the story is put together How the speaker persuades Shift from what’s told to the telling (Reissman, 2008)

Labov's 6 Basic Elements of Storytelling 1. Abstract - How does it begin?  2. Orientation - Who/what does it involve, and when/where?  3. Complicating Action - Then what happened? 4. Resolution - What finally happened? 5. Evaluation - So what? 6. Coda - What does it all mean? Looks at function of a clause (Labov, 1967)

James Gee 1. Narrative is spoken in units 2. Idea units, lines, or stanzas Looks at how a clause is spoken (Gee, 1991)

Narrative Analysis Dialogic/Performance Analysis who it’s spoken to for what purpose

Narrative Analysis Thematic Analysis – What is being said Structural Analysis – How it is said Dialogic/Performance Analysis – to whom is it being said, when and why (Reissman, 2008)

A Short History Late 19 Century – move towards quantitative methodology Dissatisfied with results, extrapolation and generalization wasn’t working Up to the 60s – move towards narrative, but objectivity remained Mid 80s – expands, challenging realism and positivisim Labov’s 6 elements – Structural Analysis (1967) Mishler’s Research Interviewing (1986) Mitchell’s On Narrative (1981)

Where do stories come from? “The researcher does not find narratives but instead participates in their creation” (Mishler, 1986)

Advice for Narrative Inquiry BERA, 2012

References British Educational Research Association, BERA (2012). A Short Video Interview with Prof. Jean Clandinin. University of Manchester Downloaded January 14, 2017 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnaTBqapMrE Bruner, J. (1991). The Narrative Construction of Reality. Critical Inquiry, 18(1), 1-21. Cameron, J. (Director). (1997). Titanic. [Motion Picture]. United States: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Gee, J. P. (1991). A Linguistic Approach to Narrative. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 1(1), 15-39. Labov, W., & Waletzky, J. (1967). Narrative Analysis: Oral Versions of Personal Experience. In J. Helm (Ed.), Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts (pp. 12-44). Seattle: American Ethnological Society/University of Washington Press. Mishler, E.G. (1986) Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.